We will use the 'Hawks' to protect NDC – Yamin

A failed aspirant for the Ashanti Regional Chairman position of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Joseph Yamin, has stated that under no circumstances will the umbrella family disband their recently outdoored vigilante group, the Hawks.

The Hawks, he noted, will be used to protect the NDC going into the 2020 general elections.

“The Hawks are there and they will continue to be there to protect the NDC into 2020 elections”, he noted in an interview with Accra-based Okay FM, Wednesday, September 5, 20018.

There are fears by some Ghanaians over the emergence of vigilante groups among the leading political parties in the country, especially, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition NDC.

The two parties together boast of the Invincible Forces, Azorka Boys, Bamba Boys and Kandahar Boys among others.

These groups have in one way or the other unleashed havoc on some Ghanaians and destroyed some public properties. They have no regard for rules, regulations and laws of the land.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Ghana worried about their dangers these vigilante groups pose to the nation urged the government to deal firmly with indiscipline and political vigilantism in the country.

“If we must be counted among successful nations, the least that will be expected from each citizen, regardless of one’s position in life, is to respect the laid down rules and regulations of the society unconditionally,” the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission Ghana, Alhaji Maulvi Mohammed Bin Salih noted in a message he recently communicated to the government.

Yamin commenting further said the Hawks will only be deplored for NDC activities to maintain order at such functions.

Further to that, he said since some of them are already polling station agents, those people will purposely be deplored for such activities while the rest will be assigned different roles.

When asked why the formation of such vigilante group looking at the history of the invincible forces and the Delta Force which are all affiliated to the governing NPP, the former deputy Ashanti Regional Minister said the Hawks are not a violent vigilante group unlike that of the NPP’s group.

“Why are you comparing Delta Force to the Hawks? You are comparing oranges to apples. Delta Force people are destructive to the state. Have you heard the Hawks causing any harm to anybody or public property? In any political party, each and everyone has a role to play. There are those who are communicators. There are those who are serial callers. I know of one such person who is so intelligent that I always advice that he should go and look for a job at a radio station but he told me that he enjoys texting and calling. There are those who are executives who have taken up the mantle to stir the affairs of the party. There are those who have decided to come together to form a task force and ensure that if the NDC are going to organize a program, they will make sure that things are put in shape. And they are there and so that is part of the organization and they will continue to be part. The only time vigilantism is bad is when the NPP Delta Force took hostage of people and destroyed public properties. So, you can’t compare the NPP’s Delta Force to the Hawks of the NDC”, he noted.

The outdooring of the Hawks has received the full backing of the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah.

“I endorse it fully”, he noted in an interview with Accra-based Joy FM.